


00110000 00100000 01000111

by lepidopteras



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Alien Zer0, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Other, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-19
Updated: 2016-03-19
Packaged: 2018-05-27 16:47:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6292264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lepidopteras/pseuds/lepidopteras
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“-I, your sweet, selfless—well maybe not that selfless– best friend Gaige, had to fend for herself! I could’ve died, Zer0. DIED.”   She finished, breathlessly.</p>
<p>From boredom, to clarify.</p>
<p>A collection of drabbles, ranging in length, thanks to some RP blog shenanigans! Will update sporadically.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Human Emotions?

**Author's Note:**

> Everything you read was intended to be entirely platonic, or familial, in sense of shipping! But, hey, I'm not here to police your ships. Read it how you like.

Plip, plop, patter, patter, patter. 

The metallic noises elevated to a crescendo against Sanctuary’s rooftops, the sound not entirely dissimilar to Helios’ moonshots. Handsome Jack barraging the last stronghold of the resistance from beyond his grave, as it were.

All the citizens were holed up in their homes and apartments for the day, waiting out the storm in their private abodes. They had the right idea, no one could deny, as muddy pathways and sheets of plentiful Pandoran rain was just the equation for a shitty day. If only for a brief moment, the populace of ex-bandits, thieves, murderers, and debauched humans could have a peaceful respite. That is, if they were lucky enough to find a decent shelter in time.

Speaking of murderers. One could find our squadron of morally ambiguous Vault hunters all cozied up to one another, whether they wanted the closeness or not. It was chilly, and HQ was cramped, what could they say? Maya, the resident siren, was nestled snugly between the team’s military man and the impending, towering harbinger of death that bore the name Krieg. God save her. The clusterfuck gathered on the couch all spoke over each other at once, but none being able to get a single word in.Thankfully, before things became too claustrophobic on the upper floor, Gaige, the youngest of the group, snuck out from the midst of commotion and into the first floor.

Just then, she heard the distinct scampering– and sqwaking – of three more pairs of feet scuttle upstairs. More room for herself, she scoffed. To hell with ‘em! This youthful firecracker could have a rousing good time on a rainy day. She’d spent many’a times entertaining herself by her lonesome back on Eden-5. Filled with, uh… exhilarating video games! Or, perhaps… installing those well-needed updates onto Deathtrap?

Ugh, the more her mind wandered, the more she wanted nothing more than to sit around and pout. That, or pester Tannis until her squabbling drowned out the onslaught of rain. Nothing could satiate her thirst for hyperactive shooting, nothing even came close to comparing. She felt positively trapped, destined to live out eternity smushed in between the smelliest and most overbearing people known to man.

Suddenly, Gaige was whipped away from her melodramatic daydream. The building’s door swung open with force, casting a gust a chilled air through the halls, the thunderous sounds illuminated now there was no direct barrier. Gaige jolted upright, swinging her head in the direction of the intruder, fully ready to defend her makeshift home – until she caught a glimpse of the perpetrator’s face, if you could even call it that.

Zer0!

She leaped from her position from the rusted, worn bunk bed ( with her name carved haphazardly into the baseboard, thank you very much ), practically squealing as she tumbled to the floor. Her balance was shakey at first, but once she regained her composure, the girl flashed a toothy grin to the assassin, hands on hips, sporting a beam that could give the sun a run for it’s money! Their absence didn’t register immediately, but once it did… boy, she had a lot to say, and only so much cognizance to say it in.

“Hey! Where the hell have you been, man? I’ve been losing my mind over here, and you just up and book it?” She rushed, already riled up when she began speaking.

“Can you spell ‘bored’? B-O-R-E-D, bored! While everyone else was busy getting chummy upstairs- “ She paused at this, gagging on a chipped finger for effect, and thrust her free hand’s thumb towards the staircase. Huh. They were still patiently awaiting her to finish speaking. Or, maybe this was just another decoy. She could never be sure. 

“-I, your sweet, selfless—well maybe not that selfless– best friend Gaige, had to fend for herself! I could’ve died, Zer0. DIED.” She finished, breathlessly.

From boredom, to clarify.

Finally, the masqueraded alien shifted on one foot to the other, not letting on any reaction, at first. Were they… nervous? It seemed so, one could deduce as much from their body language. Behind that elusive mask, was it possible they were grimacing, or glaring? Smiling? Eventually, they spoke, the robotic filters added from their helmet crackling into the air.

“I apologize. Didn’t anticipate rain. There was a mission.” And that was all she wrote.

The finality of their words led on more than meets the eye. She decided not to prod, this time. Inwardly, Gaige couldn’t help but feel surges of pride at her ability to bring out remorse in the ruthless killer. Her piercing emerald eyes scanned down their body, and up again, and down once more. Water dripped liberally from their armor, drizzling into a pool at their feet. They must be terribly soaked, she thought, but considering it was Zer0, it most likely didn’t even phase them.

With an amused snort, she reached forward, and poked them square in the chest plate.

“Ya sure you don’t wanna take that thing off? It doesn’t exactly look comfortable. Besides, I’m not gonna let you sit on my bed until you’re dry.”

At that, a rare, deep chuckle filtered through their comms. The first floor was eerily silent, then, the only sounds the muffled laughter and shrieks from the other residents. They were utterly, and entirely, alone. Zer0 always did prefer solitude. 

Reaching above their head, it almost looked like they were ready to decapitate themselves, before a rush of whistling air escaped their helmet. The assassin fiddled with a few latches, taking their sweet time before painstakingly clipping off their faceplate. Revealed before their companion, was their natural face, a subtle smile tugging at their features. Zer0 blinked slowly, adjusting to the light, before cautiously placing the high-tech helmet aside somewhere it could be grabbed in a flash. Sure, they may have grown soft, like a fluffy marshmallow, but they weren’t being reckless.

Doing their best to wring out the already skin-tight suit, the pale complexioned alien shook off as much excess as they could from their limbs. Eh, good enough. Still a bit damp, they hoisted themselves up onto her top-bunk, carefully avoiding her spread of video games, comic books, and miscellaneous junk. They flashed a bemused semi-grin, before tilting their head, awaiting her response tauntingly. Her rules be damned.

Her only reaction, besides one of complete befuddlement at the spontaneity of their actions, was to roll her eyes. And everyone called her the child! How could she even be mad at them? Well, easily, but that was besides the point. She wouldn’t dare risk saying anything that could leave them stomping out, helmet intact. Grunting, she climbed on up, legs dangling precariously off the side. Her voice lit up the room, the girlish giggle seemed to brighten the storm, just a bit.

“How did nobody even notice you slipping off before the big storm today? You’re a literal ninja, it’s kinda creepy, T B H.” She asked. It took a special kind of person to spell out their acronyms.

The only answer she received was a vague shrug, and a four-fingered hand clenching around her sheets. They seemed on edge, and Gaige wondered wearily what must’ve gone down without her ass-kicking presence. Her eyes shifted, vision moving from the dew-drops settling on her friend’s suit, to their nervously tapping fingers, skimming past the giant gash on their forehead –

Wait.

Her eyes shot open in disbelief, and quickly scanned over to their helmet in the corner. Yup, just as she suspected, near the top, right at its curve lay a nasty looking scratch. Gaige pouted, exhaled exasperatedly, and tentatively reached forward. Ever the vigilant, however, Zer0 immediately flinched back an inch or two, curiously flicking their wide, pupil-less eyes over her guilty form. They were met with a pleading look, one that tugged at their heartstrings. Ugh, god. Pathetic.

She tried again, even gentler this time, reaching forward. No words were exchanged, but they understood. They leaned down the slightest amount, giving her a better view of the wound. It really wasn’t that serious, and would heal on its own in due time. So why was she so hypnotized by it?

Under the harsh, fluorescent lights, Gaige noted that their blood was in fact, red. The muted purples of the blemishes on their head were intriguing, too, and she made a mental note to examine those further on a later occasion. For now, though, she couldn’t help but feel at fault for this. No matter how minor, she could’ve prevented this by being there. Frankly, Zer0 was kind of a dick anyway for sneaking out to begin with, but that’s beside the point.

Her unusually feather-light touches with the pads of her fingertips traced against the scratch. It was, admittedly, a very intimate moment. Something neither of them had experienced before, but didn’t intend to cut short. Underneath their breath was a distinct hum of contentedness. This was nice. Yes, nice was an apt word to describe this experience.

Almost on impulse, and jarring the moment to a complete stop, Gaige leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to their forehead, right below the scratch. Zer0’s eyes fluttered to meet hers, the touch barely registering at first. They didn’t hate that, surprisingly. Sure, now it left the pair staring at one-another awkwardly as if neither of them had ever experienced affection before ( which wasn’t entirely untrue for the alien of the bunch ), but they could work around that.

They frowned for a split second, pondering on what to say next, or if they should even respond at all. Social interaction was so hard when you didn’t have an arsenal of emoji at your disposal. After an excruciating few moments, the sweet gesture was returned as best they knew how, helmet or no helmet. Gaige’s forehead was thumped against their own dully, a little ‘thunk!’ of their colliding skulls echoing off the wall.

It was almost hilarious, how they couldn’t even kiss, but who needed that? She knew what they meant. Were they wearing their headgear right about now, it would’ve been displaying an adorable series of <3 emotes, trailing across the LEDs for all eternity. They indulged in the fleeting moment, the whir of the overhead fans, the silence only being broken by the weather outside, the smell of petrichor lingering on their clothes. It all seemed picturesque.

Of course, twas not meant to last. As much as she appreciated their effort, Gaige couldn’t suppress the snorting guffaw that led her falling backwards, clutching her stomach at the absurdity of it all, thus alerting the hoard of Vault hunters occupying the second floor to come investigating the ruckus. The stampede of footsteps traveled ever closer, leaving her to wipe at her eyes and wave in greeting as the group made their debut onto the scene, leaving them to their own devices. 

Gaige briefly made a note to install a timer on Zer0’s helmet, as she’d never seen them rush to slap the thing on quicker.

Voices cluttered over each other, some begging her to join the party, others inquiring what was so funny. Yet still, no one but Gaige seemed to take notice of the assassin’s absence. Maybe everyone else was just accustomed to their antics. They would turn up sooner or later, she figured, Decepti0n couldn’t last that long before fizzling out.

Just as predicted, once she shooed away the others’ growing concerns, out of the corner of her eye came a flash of grey. There they stood, utterly unphased—but who could tell what their expression was underneath the helmet? – arms crossed and legs leaning against the base of a bed nearby. A single red symbol flashed onto their display screen, directly towards her; a simple :). She stuck out her tongue in reply.

Pft. Cool-guy personas were overrated anyway.


	2. Not the Energizer Bunny.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An RP prompt, for one person falling asleep on the other. Poor Zer0.

Gaige had been looking pretty groggy most of the day. 

Actually, no, scratch that. Down right sleep deprived. 

In fact, whenever the assassin cast an oblong glance towards the teen, she seemed to grow more and more feverish. Flushed cheeks, drooping eyelids, and sluggish movements. If Zer0 were gifted in the field of medicine – or even just, detecting sickness in humans in general – they’d say she spent one too many a nights chugging back energy drinks and foregoing rest all-together. 

Which isn’t to say they were entirely ignorant, no! They were the first to notice the symptoms set in, and the negative side-effects slowly take their toll on the young girl. Not only did she look positively horrid, but her moods were beginning to spike, as well. With a slight sigh of defeat, they decided to cut their mission queue short for the day, knowing full-well how miserable she must have felt. Sure, it twanged at their inner completionist to forego a job thanks to their charge’s ( no, no – friend, they reminded themselves ) negligence to her own body, but what could they say? She turned them soft.

Despite her gurgled protests, and weak attempts at slapping them away with the insistence of “No way, you freakin’ aliens, get away, I’m fine-”, Zer0 tucked their partner safely into the passenger seat of their vehicle, drowning out her whines and immature shakes. 

The trek home wouldn’t be especially thrill inducing, as sun was just beginning to drip through the horizons and splotched trees when the duo departed. Normally, Zer0 would be bored to death at the mere thought of several hours with no variation in scenery but the occasional skag tearing meat from limb, or bandits running amok in the dusty night air – but this was surprisingly… peaceful? Yes. Perhaps they could get used to this.

At least, until, in her sleep-addled state of mind, Gaige reached forward absently, and all but snuggled into their shoulder. Her metallic prosthetic cinched tight around their forearm, denying them any escape without potential to wake her. Clever girl. They could practically feel her smirk from underneath the fabric of their suit, and the thought of her being so affectionate on purpose left them tense and silent for the remainder of the drive. 

For the love of god, they prayed she wouldn’t remember this.


End file.
